This is my plan for tomorrow.

[altarflame]

I almost always privatize to-do lists, because I want privacy and/or they're boring, but I feel so idyllic and pampered lately - with my AA done and GMYS, PATH and TLC having been on holiday break; with Aaron not dancing due to leg injury; with a period of no doctors appts for Isaac and no counselor for me; I'm living the life of a stay at home mom the way I remember it from when my kids were babies and toddlers...except they don't need any of the things babies and toddlers need, anymore. There's an endless barrage of requests to "watch" and to "see" from the younger ones, and a lot of cajoling necessary on my part towards the older ones, but...I am feeling all this free time, and it feels good. For most of the last two years, I didn't have time to cook really good food the way I wanted to, or to educate them AND have minutes of leisure for myself in the same day.

Wednesday, the 9th...
-up at 7; make orange breakfast muffins
-help Isaac get ready for school (include choosing science fair topic and writing first sentence to take to Ms Lopez)
-go in and sign the homeschooling-Elise-again-form when I drop him off (8:15ish)
-wake up all those dratted whatsits and offer them muffins, butter, honey and jam; I'm having leftover lentil soup for breakfast
-write the Elise homeschooling letter to the school board and put it in the mailbox; make an appt by phone with TK about evaluations at some later date
-make them do their chores
-assign everyone their schoolwork for the day
-somewhere in there, get some amount of dishes washed
-NAP for 2 hours (approximately 10-12)
-french omelettes for Me, Annie and Jake's lunch; eggs for Aaron and something (like pbj) for Elise
-checking, going over schoolwork done while I was napping; helping with things they need help with, teaching things that require lessons; assigning more (also includes making contact with Ananda's marine science teacher via phone or email)...this is also the time period I'll be preparing tea
-picking Isaac up at 3; talking with him about his day for a bit
-"High tea" out on the deck at 3:30, featuring cream cheese sandwiches (ham and cucumber, respectively) and this flourless chocolate cake I baked tonight with the girls
-get him started on his homework; get everyone else working on whatever they have undone
-bubble bath for me once they're set
-walk for everyone so Elise can run (6ish)
-roast chicken with vegetables all in the pan (Isaac and Elise bathe while it cooks, as they're least recently bathed), for dinner, which is around 7:30
-do at least a few dishes
-assign them all a brief cleaning job
-they brush their teeth
-reading to everyone one and two at a time, Isaac first since he has to wake up early and Elise second since she fell asleep before reading tonight. This takes forever, Isaac will be read to around 9:15, Elise 30 minutes (i.e., a chapter of Harry Potter) later, then Jake at 10ish, and when the littles are all sleeping I end up talking and reading long chapters to A&A until God knows when (tonight it was til 2...last night, I think more like midnight)
-make a real blog post while they're sleeping, with pictures and so on

I am taking these slower days to finalize my plans and goals for this year, and they'll wisk us away again soon enough, onto the highways and into the waiting rooms, with food bags packed in the van. Today, we sat around the dining table playing Jenga and Chinese Checkers and watching educational videos and there was a lot of jumping rope on the trampoline. I cleaned out our big dining room storage closet and they've been using all kinds of things that have been MIA for months - like the pattern blocks, and the stamping set. Annie cleaned out her own closet without any prompting and passed down so much stuff (clothes, accessories and toys) to Elise that it was like second Christmas for her.

The weather has been perfect for keeping the french doors open all over the house in the afternoons and evenings.

Thursday is a designated sewing day, where there would be naps and a bubble bath for me tomorrow; teach Annie to sew, and in the process work on her quilt, do a few little things people have been waiting on me to do (stuffed animal repair, dress alteration, et al.) - I am getting close to a point when I have to do some maintenance on my machine again but I think we can get a couple of more days like this out of it first, and they don't come often enough for that to be pressing.

Friday is a writing planning day - I have at least half a dozen emails to send, 3 different projects' notes to gather, and a schedule to settle on that may include travelling.

I also have to keep in mind that I have a personal guideline to apply to 3 universities and for financial aid before my diploma comes in the mail (which is supposed to be 6 weeks after graduating, or 3.5 weeks from now).

I feel so wildly lavish and blessed to be financially taken care of and able to live this way. I mean, my God, what rare and precious opportunities all around.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Mmm orange breakfast muffins...

Why is Elise being homeschooled again, I thought she loved school?